Home Again

Last week we vacationed in the Great Smoky Mountains with my parents, my two sisters, and their children. The Rixies/Barnes/Plushes/Huffmans are an interesting mix of personalities, each with definite likes and dislikes.

My sweet mother always rents a place for the fourteen of us and then cooks herself silly (her own idea of a va-ca. Go figure.) The condos/house can be located in the mountains, at the beach, or sometimes in an area with a historical bent. Wherever we find ourselves, it is a time of being thrown together with extended family and lots and lots of personal free time. (Personally, if I score a stack of paperbacks and a quiet place to read, I’m a happy camper.) There are no established requirements on our vacation, other than to show up at the dinner table for Grandma’s meals.

In general, vacations are a great break from reality. You get to:

Physically distance yourself from distractions of daily life

Strengthen family bonds, sometimes sorely tested in the day-to-day

Refresh and refill your tank with new experiences you otherwise might not have had

One thing Europeans have gotten right over the Americans is the duration of what they term a “holiday”–usually at minimum a two-week stay. We Americans short-shrift ourselves to squeezing out one week at a time, with a day or two of that allotted for travel. Hardly do you get unpacked in your room, before it’s time to gather it all up and go back from whence you came.

Regardless of how long they are, vacations are blessings from God. Even with the extra preparations they require. Even with the dreaded piles awaiting when you return. On vacation, we can enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. We can reflect on His goodness and His provision. We can just be, if we wish.

Someday every believer in Jesus will embark on a getaway of a lifetime, to a wondrous place. There will be no time crunch, no lowering of bank accounts, no dirty laundry, no emails out the wazoo. Just zillions upon zillions of years in eternity with our Loving Savior–and that long to mix it up with our kindred tooling alongside us in heaven. We will be enthralled with the most glorious of scenery, have the most magical air to breathe, fulfill the most extraordinary purpose ever–that of praising our Lord Jesus forever and forever, on into eternity.

All of that, without ever repacking a suitcase again. Vacation = Permanent Home.